Gold goes up ahead of US jobs data

On Thursday, gold futures went up during European trade, thus reversing moderate overnight losses because traders kept an eye open on American employment data for more hints on the Fed’s next move.

Traders are awaiting the US ADP jobs report for May soon, followed by weekly jobless claims data.

Apart from that, market participants are paying attention to American nonfarm payrolls to be issued on Friday. The consensus forecast states that the data will unveil jobs growth of about 162,000 last month, thus following a surge of about 160,000 in April. As for the unemployment rate, it’s supposed to tumble to 4.9%, while market analysts expect average hourly earnings to soar 0.2% after earning 0.3% the previous month.

Solid readings could further spur hopes for a move as soon as the Fed’s next policy gathering is scheduled on June 14-15.

Investors are currently pricing in a 20% chance for a rate lift in June and approximately 58% in July.

Meanwhile, traders are waiting for the European Central Bank's interest rate verdict to be issued a bit later.